Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Dinah Johnson is an award-winning author of picture books. As a writer and as a professor/scholar of children’s literature at USC, children’s books are at the center of her life. As a SC native, Dinah is honored to serve the children of the state.

Artist Statement

As Dinah Johnson, I am the author of numerous picture books. I love sharing literature, written and spoken, with people of all ages, as we experience joy and confidence in expressing ourselves and exploring our worlds through language. It is important beyond measure for students to see, in the flesh, a person who wrote the words in a book that might be in their own school libraries. I often hear, “You wrote this book?”—both a question and an exclamation.

As Dr. Dianne Johnson-Feelings, I am a professor of English at the University of South Carolina. I enjoy working with teachers as well as parent and community groups in their efforts to support young people in becoming literate, enthusiastic citizens, through their engagement with literature and the humanities.

I can tailor my workshops, as a children’s book author or as a scholar of children’s literature, for any age group, and for groups of any size. I offer single session visits as well as multi-day workshops, sometimes culminating in performances and displays of students’ work.

My most cherished “fan letter” is from a little girl who wrote to me, “Dear Dinah, You had made my heart sing.”